Chief Ebele Nwokoye, a former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), has been conferred with the controversial ‘blue silk’ rank as a Senior Counsel of Nigeria (SCN).

The rank is reportedly designed as an alternative to the coveted rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) conferred by the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC).

Nwokoye, who served as NBA President between 1985 and 1987, received the rank last Tuesday at an event in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

He was also conferred with the title of National Patron of the Body of Senior Counsel of Nigeria (BOSCON), the organisation responsible for conferring the blue silk rank.

The development comes amid a legal dispute between the NBA and the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP), which promotes the SCN rank.

The NBA has opposed introduction of the Blue Silk rank, describing it as illegal and warning lawyers who accept the title of possible sanctions.

Unlike the SAN rank which requires evidence of litigation experience among its criteria, applicants for the Blue Silk are required to provide at least 35 verifiable non-litigation transactions and must have held a Bachelor of Laws degree for at least 10 years.

Reacting to the development, Tonye Jaja, Executive Secretary of ALDRAP, described Nwokoye’s conferment as a significant development for the SCN rank.

Jaja alleged that NBA had previously attempted to prevent the maiden blue silks investiture in December 2025.

According to Jaja, NBA has failed to file an appeal against the judgement of Justice Mohammed Garba of the Federal High Court in suit FHC/ABJ/CS/1238/2025 which, he claimed, validated the Blue Silks rank. Instead, the NBA relies on another ruling of the Federal High Court which has been appealed against by the opposing party.

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